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Frank Zappa We're Only In It for the money Over the past few years I've been getting into Frank Zappa.
I started with Hot Rats which I consider to be one of the best albums ever. Then I got Overnite Sensation and Apostrophe both very good. Went on and got Freak Out, again great. Then I got Only in it for the money and was very eager to hear it as meant to be his best album. I don't really know why it's consider as such, maybe it's groundbreaking andahead of it's time. I find it entertaining and it made me chuckle at couple of times but it's a really weird album in that it's not got any memorable music on it. It always reminds of Monty Pyphons Flying Circus as well for some reason, I guess the insaneness of it. I was wondering what people's general opinion of this album is? [Edited 4/18/07 12:28pm] | |
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a little chaotic for me, but the fact that every clang and squeal and hoot was orchestrated and composed and has a reason to be there is kind of amazing to me. in theory i think it's a brilliant album...i'm just not too keen on listening to it.  | |
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Yeah, I'm kinda on the same fence when it comes to Frank Zappa's music. He was an amazing composer and he had a unique take on things, but I'm not that keen on listening to a lot of his music. I did buy "Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar", though  My author page: https://www.amazon.com/au...eretttruth | |
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JesseDezz said: Yeah, I'm kinda on the same fence when it comes to Frank Zappa's music. He was an amazing composer and he had a unique take on things, but I'm not that keen on listening to a lot of his music. I did buy "Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar", though
i like his more melodic, bluesy stuff - i enjoy lots of "sheik yerbouti" and "you are what you is" and "tinseltown rebellion" - i can follow that stuff. a lot of the more collage-y sounding things are okay for the first two minutes, then i start getting twitchy. | |
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i think "we're only in it for the money" is a very interesting album, but it is difficult "to get" out side of its culture context. it is primarily a satirical record. it was recorded 1967-1968 and released in 1968 at the height of the summer of love hippy days, and it satirizes hippy culture and america's reaction to it. most of the songs directly talk about how lame and shallow a lot of the youth of the day who were just following fashion trends, and running off to "san francisco because all the bands live together, do drugs, get crabs, and take a bus back home". or, uptight america's violent reaction to hippy/youth culture. some of the musical themes from the album are meant to sound really banal to get the satirical effect he was looking for.
one of the interesting things about frank was that if you looked at him, he fit the fashion stereotype of a hippy in that day, but he scathingly made fun of that stuff. he made a career out of satirizing his own audience and popular culture of the time. but, if taken out of the context of those things, a lot of songs don't make sense. +=+ [Edited 4/19/07 9:56am] ------------------------------------------------
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medoc2003 said: i think "we're only in it for the money" is a very interesting album, but it is difficult "to get" out side of its culture context. it is primarily a satirical record. it was recorded 1967-1968 and released in 1968 at the height of the summer of love hippy days, and it satirizes hippy culture and america's reaction to it. most of the songs directly talk about how lame and shallow a lot of the youth of the day who were just following fashion trends, and running off to "san francisco because all the bands live together, do drugs, get crabs, and take a bus back home". or, uptight america's violent reaction to hippy/youth culture. some of the musical themes from the album are meant to sound really banal to get the satirical effect he was looking for.
one of the interesting things about frank was that if you looked at him, he fit the fashion stereotype of a hippy in that day, but he scathingly made fun of that stuff. he made a career out of satirizing his own audience and popular culture of the time. but, if taken out of the context of those things, a lot of songs don't make sense. +=+ [Edited 4/19/07 9:56am] That's pretty much my analysis. I would add that 'Money' is also trying to bait Beatles fans, especially with the Sgt Pepper-like cover and FZ's reply to 'A Day in the Life', the deliberately pompous 'The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny', in which he tries to outdo the famous climax of that track. I like 'Pepper' and the Beatles, but FZ is clearly the more rigorous, intellectual composer. I wouldn't say 'better', as they're quite different. Frank, a man with an over-powering work ethic, clearly didn't like the 'hippy fakes', and 'Money' is at least in part his satirical attack on hippy culture, and the hypocrisy and the hidden commercialism he saw in it. And when you research the period, imo he had something of a point. And I also think the album is best listened to with 'Lumpy Gravy', as a two disk set, as Frank apparently viewed them as related projects, along with his final work, the hard-to-get 'Civilization Phaze 3'. They make me laugh, and there are some lovely instrumental passages here and there, especially on 'Gravy'. [Edited 4/19/07 14:15pm] | |
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